I Knew You'd Come Knocking
by wordsunderwater
Summary: When Spencer is forced to stay with Toby in his tiny New York apartment, can the promise they made to be just friends stay intact? Better watch out New York, because Spoby is coming to town. *Temporary summary, suggestions appreciated! More info inside*
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Just to set things straight, in my AU story, Spencer and Toby attend NYU, so does Hanna (and Caleb), Alison did die, but the murderer turned out to be Melissa and she was sentenced to three years in prison. Spencer and Toby became friends senior year (grade 11 for you technical people) and Aria attends Hollis for Ezra ;) and Emily is at UPenn with Paige (both in the swimming program. **

**Oh, and A didn't exist.**

**Other than that, everything else is the same :)**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, the last time I wished for the ownership of PLL, it didn't work.**

Spencer POV

_Friday, 8:01pm_

She knocked on the worn mahogany door once, twice, and three times impatiently, shifting the cardboard box she held in her hands to become more comfortable. She blew a dark hair from her face when he didn't answer, and decided she should probably knock again._ He probably didn't hear the knocking,_ she decided. Her hand was raised to hit the door again when it opened (finally), and she lowered it meekly.

"Spencer!" Toby exclaimed in surprise, widening the door gap so she could see that he was in black sweats and a white t-shirt. "What the heck are you doing here at 8:00 at night? It's dangerous in New York! You know that!"

She ducked her head like a child being scolded. "I kinda need a place to crash."

Toby cocked his head to the side intuitively. "Boyfriend problems with Wren again?"

She snorted derisively. "Naw, we broke up this morning. No, apparently, I got evicted."

"Okay, now I've seen everything." Toby raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's not what you think!" She protested. "My dad didn't see the bill under his mound of paperwork at home and totally forgot to pay it, and my landlord thinks it's fun to evict people at night- he even did it with my next door neighbor, remember?"

"So you need a place to stay..." Toby mused as the box grew heavier in her hands.

"Yes, smart one." She quipped. "Can I come in now? This box wants to drop and take my hands with it!" She tried to get through but Toby stretched out an arm to block her way. She turned to see him grinning like a Cheschire cat.

"I didn't say you could stay here..."

Her face fell. "But Toby, we've been friends forever! Since high school!"

Toby tapped a finger to his dimpled chin, pondering the problem. "Well, if you say please, I might let you stay..."

Her face flushed and her fingers grabbed the cardboard tighter. "Jerk." She muttered.

"Hmmm, what was that?"

"Nothing, can I please come in now? Pretty please with a high GPA on top?"

Toby smirked to show her that he had been joking and she smiled back._ Oh, she could read him like a book. _With an exaggerated flourish he opened the door for her.

"Thank you, Mister Cavanaugh." She joked, throwing down her box with a grunt. Rubbing her palms together, she turned to Toby with an expectant look. "Well, are you going to help me with the rest of them or not?"

"I knew I would regret letting you stay here." Toby muttered and was rewarded with a hard swat on his broad shoulder. She saw the look on his face and booked it down the stairs, laughing uncontrollably.

Toby POV

Once Spencer had made him bring almost all of her boxes upstairs (although she insisted it was an equal share of work), she lay sprawled on his brown leather couch in his main room, snacking on some crackers she had found in his cupboard. He sat down with a grunt on the opposite couch with a light beer, rubbing at his eyes every once and a while.

Spencer frowned at the distance between them. "Why are you all the way over there? You can share a couch with me and not crush me, B."

He smiled at the nickname, and even though he felt the familiar twinge of nerves he ignored them._ We're just friends,_ he silently scolded that part of his heart.

"That's better." Spencer said, softly smiling as he sat down. "Because _the Notebook_ is already in the DVD player."

He laughed mentally at her making sure that they would watch her favorite movie. After about an hour, give or take a couple minutes, passed, he could feel Spencer's head fall to rest on his arm. The girl herself was completely passed out.

Extracting himself from the couch, he padded over to his cabinet where he pulled out an old blue blanket and an extra pillow. He returned to the room and clicked the power button on the TV. The screen faded out, and he set to work covering a fully-clothed Spencer with the blanket and sliding the pillow under her head. His heart pulsed with frustration as he looked down on the girl he knew would never think of him the same way as he did of her. He bent over and kissed Spencer's forehead softly.

"Goodnight, Spence. I wish you knew." With that, he flicked off the lights and plunged them into the dark.

**10 reviews before 10:30 tonight and I'll upload tomorrow!**


	2. WellGiven the Question

**AN: Wow, I'm so glad you guys liked the last chapter! It makes me a happy author :) unfortunately, I didn't get the ten reviews before ten thirty (I got them after) so I didn't have enough time to finish up this chapter for the day after- sorry guys!**

**Thank you to phoenix9648, RandomRandoms14, h3yy0u, A (lol), Ally, miss, Jenny, gigi7878, Spobyshipper12, Alexis, Mac, lightswitch100, and Prettylittlefan for reviewing :).**

**Thank you to puppylove149, Rosesxalex, RandomRandoms14, Waffleluver, and gigi7878 for all the alerts :).**

**Disclaimer: If I really owned PLL, there would be no breaks ever between seasons- PLL, ALL YEAR LONG :D.**

Toby POV

_Saturday, 10:42am_

He slid out of bed and walked into the short hallway, his back stiff from sleep and his feet asleep under him. _Breakfast,_ he sleepily decided. Padding into the main room, he froze at the sight of a brunette head hanging over the edge of his sofa. Coming closer, he saw that the head was attached to a girl, and coming closer he saw that the girl was Spencer sleeping on his couch. He almost laughed out loud when he finally remembered the last night's events.

Spencer lay in an unorganized heap on the deep brown cushions. One arm was thrown above her head and the other hung off of the couch and nearly touched the carpet. As for her legs, her left one was hanging over the arm cushion and her right one was joining her arm. Surprisingly, the blue blanket still covered all of her except her left foot. Chuckling to himself, he went forward and tucked the corner of the cover around her toes.

The movement must have woken Spencer up, because she started to stir and he jumped a couple feet back. He didn't want her to think that he was watching her sleep like some serial killer.

She woke up, yawned so widely he was surprised she didn't dislocate her jaw and rubbed her eyes. "Morning." She rasped.

He coughed and reached up to scratch the back of his head. "Oh, hey. Morning."

"Do you have anything at all we can eat for breakfast?" She asked while sitting up and pushing the blanket of her.

"Hmmm." He racked his brain. "I might have some stuff for pancakes."

Spencer's eyes brightened immediately and she jumped up. "We are so making pancakes. Race you to the kitchen!"

He followed her through his apartment and to his tiny kitchen. She knew her way around from the countless times she had visited him. The kitchen itself was a humble four-burner stove, an ample-sized sink, a small dishwasher that he had to load and turn on every day, and mixed appliances that were housed in a thin cupboard that ran from the floor to the ceiling. When he got into the kitchen, Spencer was already searching his cupboard for the pancake griddle.

"I swear Toby," she muttered as she searched. "You need a woman in your house, or a girlfriend to keep your apartment in shape, 'cause you don't do it!"

"I'm looking at her." He commented, leaning on the doorframe and crossing his arms loosely. Spencer's head jerked up and she stared at him in confusion. He quickly realized what he had implied and rushed to fix it. "You're crashing with me, so maybe you can help?"

"Oh." Spencer nodded and the worry lines faded from her forehead. She turned to face the cupboard again. "Now if I could just find that damn griddle..."

Smiling, he reached up to the top shelf and pulled out the black griddle.

"There it is!" Spencer exclaimed as he held it out. "But how,- I just- Ugh. Like I said." She turned towards him and shut the door behind her.

He plugged in the griddle as Spencer went to start up the coffee maker. Soon the scent of a fresh grind of Colombian beans wafted through the kitchen along with the smell of batter that he was mixing. Both joined the sounds from the pop station that Spencer had turned on from his radio. The two made small talk about the weather, Spencer's test scores, his test scores, and which professors they agreed should not even be teaching. He didn't see Spencer sneak up behind him, not until she snuck a finger into the batter and wiped it on his nose.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, turning around and passing a palm over his nose.

"Whatcha going to do about it?" A giddy Spencer challenged him with a devious grin spreading across her face.

"This." He dipped three fingers into the mixing bowl and sprayed the mix over her cheekbones. She looked comically surprised with her mouth open and pancake batter blending with her freckles.

"B!" She exclaimed, wringing her hands out.

"That's what you get."

"Well, this is what you get!" Spencer cupped her hands full of water from the faucet and threw it at him, catching him by surprise. He retaliated with water of his own. This went on and on until both of them were standing in the small kitchen dripping wet and with batter covering their faces. Spencer was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe and he couldn't stop chuckling at her.

"I, won, that." Spencer panted with both hands on her knees.

He shook his head. "Nu-uh."

"Agree to disagree."

"Deal." He shook the water from his curly wet hair. "I call the shower first."

But before he could make good on that, Spencer darted out of the room."You'll have to be faster then!" She called over her shoulder.

Spencer POV

Once she was showered and clad in a white towel, she walked out of his modern bathroom to find the mess in the kitchen cleaned up, the pancakes made, and a lone figure in the main room. Toby was sitting on the couch (still wet) and looking at his iPhone's screen.

"What's up now?" She asked comfortably, sitting down beside him. Toby jumped when she spoke, and he seemed to be nervous when he saw what she was wearing- or rather, what she wasn't wearing.

"I, uh, she, Aria t-texted me." He stammered, running a rough hand through his hair.

"Oh, okay." She smiled. "What about?"

"She wants to know if we want to have lunch today with her and the Fitz- they're in town and wanted to surprise you." Toby answered, awaiting her reaction.

Then she laughed goodnaturedly. "The surprise is kind of gone now, but it doesn't mean I'm not excited! I'm going to go get dressed. And the shower's free if you want."

"Thanks!" He called back. Moments later, she heard the bathroom door close and then she headed towards her boxes that were left in the corner from last night. Maybe the black top with the white embroidery and the beige skinny jeans, she thought to herself, or that nice red sundress...

Suddenly she froze in the middle of the room. Dressing nicely to meet a friend and their significant other was normal, but how she was thinking? It was like she was dressing to impress someone. She pondered it for a while, but then she chalked it up to overall nervous excitement at seeing her close friend for the first time in a while and went back to choosing clothes. After a couple minutes of debating, she settled on the red sundress after all. Slipping on a strapless white bra and a pair of matching white panties under her towel, she finally let it fall and scrambled to get her dress on to avoid feeling the air-conditioned chill of the apartment. The dress in itself was simple, light red cloth wrapping around one shoulder and continuing to just above her waist where it was cinched with a belt, and then flowed loosely to just above the knee. Bending over she searched another box and finally found the shoes she was looking for, honey brown strappy sandals with the slightest heel. She managed to slip them on when she heard someone clearing their voice from across the room.

She straightened up to see Toby standing there in a new white V-neck shirt and a pair of dark wash jeans. His blue eyes watched her curiously. "You look nice. You okay?"

She exhaled and pushed back her naturally curly hair. "Yeah, I'm fine, no problem."

Toby nodded. "Are you ready to go? The restaurant's at the other end of the city."

She mimicked his head motion. "Sure. Just one second?"

"Take your time. I'll be in the kitchen eating pancakes. Leave it to Aria to ask us to come out with her on the day that I actually cook something edible..." Shaking his head, he exited the room. Once he had gone, she dove quickly for another box this time lifting out a jewelry container. Opening it, she saw the black bracelet with the white details nestled carefully inside. She picked it up and fastened it around her thin wrist, small tears gathering in her eyes as she did so. Quickly shaking her head to get rid of the salty droplets she finished the job and touched up her makeup. A thin layer of pale eye shadow and a quick brush of mascara later, she was grabbing her phone and meeting Toby in the kitchen.

"Finally." Toby mock-complained in a high-pitched voice. "I was waiting for, like, hours."

She rolled her eyes playfully. "Come on Blondie, we have to catch a cab."

The streets were busy as usual, with many cab drivers not looking their way. Finally an old man with a sparse beard and glasses drove by and actually stopped. He lowered his window and eyed them suspiciously though.

"Are the two of ya dating?" He inquired with a slight Irish accent. She and Toby looked at each other and burst out laughing; they couldn't help it. She shook her head as a way of answering no, and the cab driver unlocked the doors for them. "Good." He muttered as they climbed into the back seat and gave him the name of their destination."'Cause the last young couple o' people I had to drive just made out like crazy. Didn't give me no directions. I almost got lost, ya see! One time..." The entire trip was spent with the cab driver telling them what awful people he had to drive places before, and her sneaking in directions every once and a while. Afterwards she gave up and settled for staring out the window.

"And that's how a real driver does it. They don't need no GP- whatever." The car suddenly lurched to a stop as the driver exclaimed. "Well look here. This has gotta be your stop!" She peered out of the window to see the sign claiming to be Giara's Cafe.

"Thank you sir." Toby said as he handed over the money that was due and opened the cab door. He had been quiet the entire ride there but now his eyes were sparkling with excitement. Truth be told, he had actually bonded with Ezra over some books they both mutually liked and he considered the ex-teacher to be a friend of his. The cab drove away and left both of them in front of the cafe.

As they walked through the door and heard the bells chime, she saw Ezra and Aria sharing a small burgundy coffee table and waving to them, their hands intertwined, but then she also caught the eye of someone she wasn't expecting to see- or more specifically, two someones...

**AN: So, what do you think this bracelet thing is about? And who do you think the two strangers are? P.S.- It's one of these options:**

**1. Mama Montgomery and Paige**

**2. Emily and Paige**

**3. Hanna and Emily**

**OR: **

**4. Hanna and Caleb**

**Let me know with a review!**

**If I get 10 or more reviews before 10:30 tonight, I'll upload tomorrow! I promise! :)**

**Also, who has seen the new Season 3 promo? Was that epic or what?**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hey sorry guys, this isn't a new chapter :( I was trying to upload the next day, but work caught up with me. I have four big projects to do for Friday (tomorrow), so I'll try and see if I can do the final edit then to post either Friday or Saturday. Again, so sorry!**

**Thanks to those who reviewed/alerted the last chapter, I'll do the shoutouts next chapter since I already have them written in.**

**Also, if you want to submit ideas, or have questions, or even want to just chat (;)) my Twitter handle is thForeverYoung and my Tumblr URL is . so follow me, DM or whatever you people like :)**

**Hopefully I will see you soon FF readers!**

**-Nadia***


	4. Call It What You Will

_AN: So it's been a while, and I apologize. I have one word to explain-_

_EXAMS._

_(And a touch of writer's block.)_

_Disclaimer: You know the drill. I will never own Toby's amazing abs._

Spencer POV

"Hanna!" She exclaimed in surprise. "And Emily?" The two girls laughed at her confusion and surprise goodnaturedly. They were sitting side by side and grinning at her. Hanna sported a bright floral design clapper shirt and Emily had on an aquamarine wife beater top with abstract designs throughout. Both wore black leggings underneath the table. Emily was actually in the middle of handing Hanna a slightly crinkled twenty dollar bill, and the blonde herself had a smug expression on her face.

Aria, on the other hand, was wearing a forest green shirt under a small black vest and a distressed beige skirt underneath. The man at her side was dressed in a comfortable light blue polo and black khakis. He stood up to give Toby the 'bro' hug, which consisted of some props and back slapping, and say hello.

"What's up, Toby?" Ezra greeted, pulling out of the hug. "It feels like it's been forever since we last got a drink!"

"It has been." Toby agreed and nodded his head. "When was it, February? It's June, man. We have to make up for lost time."

She tried to weasel her way into the conversation. "If you guys would place your 'bromance' on pause, I'd like to say hello to the girls." She quipped.

"Very well, your Highness." Toby mocked with a shallow bow and a hand flourish.

She nodded in acknowledgment and not too subtly tried to hide her grin. " Thank you, my lowly servant."

She heard her three friends' smothered giggles in the background and turned to them with an accusatory stare._ Later,_ Hanna mouthed to her with a devious smile, but she wasn't willing to let it go just yet. Turning back to the two still-chatting guys, she faked a smile and launched into a diversion. "Hey, do you think you could grab me an iced coffee, please? I'm so thirsty, it's crazy!"

"Sure, I will." Toby affirmed, gesturing to Ezra quickly. "Can I take Ez here with me?"

"Why're you asking?" She inquired. "You're 20 years old, I think you're big enough now to make your own decisions."

"Right." Toby backtracked. "I'll just go get that coffee now." He and Ezra soon disappeared into the steady flow of customers that filled the modest cafe. That was kind of weird, she thought to herself as she watched them.

She turned back to her friends expectantly, running her hands through her curls. "So what's given you compulsive giggling disorder this morning?- And before you ask, I made that up Han."

"You and Toby hooked up, didn't you?" Hanna asked bluntly, a sly grin still conspicuously present on her face.

"Wha- What?" She sputtered in disbelief. "Hanna Marin! No!"

"Liar."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Well I'm not, and-"

"Guys!" Aria broke in, shaking her head. "Can we save the -obviously good natured- bickering for somewhere more private, not a coffeehouse?"

"Fine." She conceded, borrowing a chair from a neighbor table and joining the girls.

"You're Spoby." Hanna singsonged under her breath, but just loud enough for the brunette's ears to pick up on the sound.

"What the hell is a 'Spoby'?" She exclaimed, feeling as if the name was ridiculous. "It sounds like a cleaning agent!"

Both Aria and Emily dissolved into snorts of laughter while Hanna tried to keep a straight face but was obviously failing miserably. She sat there staring at her friends (who were acting quite strange, mind you) in confusion. Eventually Aria managed to rein in her laughing long enough to wipe a small tear in her eye and explain to her what was going on. "It's your couple name," she explained, "because it's Spencer and Toby."

"Oh." She nodded as if she understood. "But we're not dating-"

"Not yet." Hanna interrupted. "I like to think that it's all a matter of time."

"Wait Han!" Emily exclaimed in realization. "That means that you have to give me back that twenty bucks!"

"Nu-uh!" Hanna defended. "It's mine now, so technically I don't have anything to give you!"

"You cheat!" Emily exclaimed, throwing her hands skywards. The rest of their bickering was lost on her as Aria leaned closer.

"Look, I know you didn't want to tell our blonde friend over there," Aria started in a mock-whisper, "but truthfully, did anything happen between you and Mr. Blue Eyed Dean over there last night?"

"No, you absolutely know me better than that. Why do you ask?" She queried.

"Just the, the," Aria searched for the right word, "the dynamic between you two. It's different today."

_Teasing more that ever, food fights, dressing her best for going out to a simple coffee shop? Oh no,_ she realized with a jolt that almost paralyzed her, _was she developing feelings for Toby? But that was impossible. They were just good friends... Right?_

In the middle of her quite unexpected revelation, two figures approached the table. She only realized this obvious fact when Hanna stood up with a happy smile and open arms, leaving Emily in the middle of an unfinished sentence.

"Caleb!" The girl squealed and pecked him chastely on the lips. "That sandwich run took forever!"

"Well, I went for you Han." Caleb quipped as he returned the favour with a longer, lingering kiss. "There was alot to pick up 'on the way'"

Hanna turned sheepishly to the other girls. "I kinda had them pick up donuts." Upon receiving dubious looks from everyone sitting down the girl defended herself. "I don't control cravings!"

"And the chance to romantically feed them to Caleb in bed, I do read your Facebook statuses Han." She remarked dryly, already wishing that Toby was back with her drink. Her brown curls were practically glued to her neck already.

"Em? You okay?" Paige asked from beside Caleb, her auburn hair curled and wearing the most feminine floral dress they had ever seen her in, which wasn't saying much.

"No." Emily replied sullenly. "I lost an argument with Hanna! How does that even work?"

"Hey!" The blonde in question retaliated. Paige went to comfort Emily, Hanna turned back to her man, and a new figure appeared.

"Spence?" Toby asked from behind a very _engaged_ Hanna and Caleb. _Poor him, _she thought humorously.

"B! You got it! Have I ever told you that I love you today?"

"Not enough." He teased, gingerly stepping around the lovesick couple and sitting down, Ezra following his lead.

"How come all you guys get the cool nicknames?" Aria pouted.

"What're you talking about?" Ezra asked, completely befuddled.

"You know. You get_ 'Ez'_, Toby gets_ 'B'_- but mostly from Spencer here. Speaking of which, she gets _'Spence'_, Hanna gets _'Han'_, and Emily gets _'Em'_!" The petite brunette explained. "I have the only un-nickname-able name!"

"How about... _'Ar'_?" Her boyfriend tried pitifully. "Or, _'Ria'_?"

"Hmm." Aria tapped her chin softly, thinking. "I think _'Ar'_ is fine." She smiled.

Toby POV

He watched Spencer curiously as she talked animatedly to Aria about the pros and cons of nicknames. He stifled a snort of laughter. _Only Spencer._

"Guys!" Aria announced loudly, effectively ending her conversation with the other brunette by standing up. "Ezra and I gathered you all here for a purpose."

"Yay, the tiny one has summoned us for a reason!" Hanna exclaimed, clapping her hands.

"Very funny Han." The indeed tiny one retaliated playfully. "But we have big news."

"We're getting married." Ezra finished, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend- his fiancé. But the man spoke again.

"And we're pregnant."

"What?" Chorused Spencer, Hanna and Emily. Paige and Caleb just smiled knowingly and exchanged slightly shocked looks. Was he the only one not surprised at these events? He stood up with a grin and slapped Ezra on the back.

"Congrats, man." He commented, surveying the three speechless girls in front of them. "You managed to shut Spencer and Hanna right up. What's your secret?"

"Earth shattering announcements, bro." Ezra replied jokingly.

The ringtone of a text message seemed to snap all of the girls out of their momentary trance.

_'Cause you're a hot mess_

_And I'm falling for you_

_And I'm like hot damn-_

Blushing, Spencer pulled out her phone and silenced the sound by tapping the screen. Her eyes stayed glued to the rapidly flashing display for longer than usual though.

"What is it, Spence?" He teased gently. "Is the Queen calling again?"

"No." She shook her head, her eyes still fixated on the text. "It's Wren."

_AN: Ooohhh, drrama! :) what will Spencer do? How will Toby react?_

_Sorry the Toby POV was so short, I'll fix that next chapter! _

_Also, my twitter handle is thForeverYoung for those who asked me! Feel free to tweet me, follow me, or stalk my mostly-Spoby-based tweets. Whatever floats your boat._

_I will see you next chapter!_

_P. S. And that Spencer and Toby makeout scene a couple of episodes ago? HOLY MOTHER OF SPOBY._


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